Why Barnsley has been a career-changing town for many major winners in darts as it prepares to bid farewell to the PDC circuit

What has Barnsley ever done for darts?

Well, you’d be surprised.

The PDC have been coming to the Barnsley Metrodome since 2009 – and I can remember the first tournament staged here very fondly.

As a quick side story, I lost in the very first round to Mark Dudbridge and I put my darts down and thought ‘I’m not sure I want to do this anymore.’

I’d only been a pro for about six months and kept feeling I was banging my head against a brick wall. But Mervyn King chatted to me at great length that day about what life as a touring pro was like and how everyone has tough times. The next day I reached the semi-finals and from then on I got my career into gear.

It was ironic that I beat Mervyn to win my only major title a few months later and he said during the trophy ceremony that he wished he’d never gave me that pep talk in Barnsley!

But in general, this venue has provided a real launchpad for many players over the last 13 years – and for others, it’s been the backdrop to their career highlights.

Another day in Barnsley

Before Barnsley entered the realm of the PDC, ranking events were held in pubs and then into leisure centres in places like Brentwood, Swindon, Taunton and also Wigan, which still host tournaments now. That venue has been going longer than Barnsley.

By the time the Players Championship structure became more ‘centralised’ in the UK, Barnsley came into the fold and has been part of the fabric ever since.

But because we’ve been here for so many years, it’s so easy for players and officials alike to walk round this venue and the surrounding hotels and think ‘another day in Barnsley.’

There are players who have said out loud “I hate coming to Barnsley”. Plus, there have been plenty of times when I’ve hated coming to Barnsley.

However, when you look a little deeper into it, this venue has been extremely important for every level of PDC darts in the last 13 years.

It’s not just Players Championships, it’s UK Open qualifiers, Development Tour, Challenge Tour and the Women’s Series, which started here.

The relationship between the Barnsley Metrodome and the PDC has been a very strong one and one that shouldn’t be forgotten because great things have happened in that room.

Beasts of Barnsley

Of all the tournaments ever held in Barnsley – and there’s been hundreds - Phil Taylor has ‘only’ reached six finals.

He’s managed to win three of them and they were all UK Open qualifying events. The two Players Championship finals he reached in Barnsley, were in consecutive days in November 2012 and he lost them both!

In those two finals, Taylor averaged 105.57 in a 6-3 defeat to Dave Chisnall (111.8) and 109.9 in a 6-5 loss to Michael van Gerwen (108.82). Pity those games weren’t streamed!

To be fair, he wasn’t really someone who travelled to a lot of the floor events – especially later in his career - so it’s not as if he played in Barnsley often.

However, he has got the highest winning percentage of anyone at the venue with 86% from 65 matches.

There’s only been seven players who managed to beat Phil Taylor in Barnsley.

MVG did it twice, then there was Chizzy in the aforementioned final, while the others were Gary Anderson, Michael Smith, Mervyn King, Ronnie Baxter and Matt Clark.

His overall average is 104! But before we get too carried away about that particular statistic, the vast majority of those 65 games weren’t recorded as it was before the Dart Connect era.

Gary Anderson has played 359 games in Barnsley and he’s won around 73% of them.

A lot of his matches were recorded statistically so his average of 98.82 is a lot more reliable, whilst he also has the highest average for a Barnsley final of 115.15 back in February 2017.

It was therefore no surprise to see him win two titles there in 2023 to take his Barnsley tally to 11, including this week when he averaged over 101 for the day and hit a nine-dart finish.

Peter Wright’s win percentage from 433 games is 72% whilst his average for recorded matches is a highly impressive 98.66.

Snakebite has won eight titles in Barnsley but at the top of the tree is Michael van Gerwen with 12.

MVG’s average here is 99.61 and his win percentage is 78% from 324 games.

Barnsley bounce

As much as the story at the start of this article kick-started my career, I also won my last PDC title here in Barnsley. I didn’t think it would be my last at the time but I do feel fondly about this venue.

But what about people who won their first PDC titles in Barnsley to give their careers the launchpad to greatness?

You never forget your first and for these players, I’m sure they’ll be sad to see Barnsley leave the tour.

Joe Cullen picked up his maiden title here which was made even more sweeter by the fact it is in his home county, while the likes of Luke Humphries, Daryl Gurney and Simon Whitlock also got off the mark here.

They all went on to become major winners of course and the same can be said about Nathan Aspinall, who achieved the feat in 2018.

Now that’s the scene of his famous story about when he was down to his last £20 in the bank account and was about to turn his back on the sport. The rest is history.

It’s a career changing town.

Ultimate highs

As much as it’s changed some careers, it’s also been the pinnacle of others.

Don’t forget there are many touring pros who dream about winning just one of these ProTour events and realistically don’t harbour dreams of lifting the major trophies.

So, there will be some journeymen who will view Barnsley as the scene of their greatest achievement and will cherish the memories forever.

Just three examples I’ve found are Harry Ward, Steve Brown, Deta Hedman, Danny Jansen and most recently Radek Szaganski – although the latter two will hope there’s more to come.

So why is the PDC leaving Barnsley?

Back in 2009, there was plenty of space to host PDC events and vast distances between the boards and I remember thinking “wow, what a place this is, it’s huge!”

But as the years went on, because of the amount of people in there and the introduction of the streaming boards, the room suddenly started to get smaller.

And now that the PDC have four streaming boards, it’s got even more cramped compared to the other venues such as the Morningside Arena in Leicester and the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, which are more fit for purpose.

That’s essentially the reason why the Metrodome can’t host these events anymore. It’s just not big enough.

The sport has progressed so much with streaming boards – and the public are hankering for more matches to be viewed. This room just can’t get bigger.

It might be pushing it to say there won’t be a dry in the house when Barnsley hosts its final event – but the guys who put up all the boards are from Hull, so they’ll probably miss the shorter trip here!

I hope the PDC mark the occasion in some way because a lot has happened under this roof. The greatest players ever have graced the room. Careers have started and ended there.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone just turns up, plays, then leaves.

Darts: Related content

• 2023 PDC Darts Calendar
• 2024 PDC Darts Calendar
• 2024 Premier League Season
• How legends would fare today
• Troubles and triumphs
• Tournament ideas for darts
• 'What If' moments in darts
• Agony of missed match darts
• Good, Bad, Ugly: Nicholson on darts shirts
• Referees in darts
• Calling the shots in darts
• Weird actions in darts
• Hidden talents in darts
• Superstitions in darts
• Routes to glory
• Paul Nicholson's five darts drills
• Paul Nicholson's five mental tips
• Paul Nicholson's five practice games
• Worst losers in darts
• World number ones in darts
• Best players never to be number one
• Do averages lie?
• Paul Nicholson's Ally Pally tales
• Watch all the Ally Pally nine-darters
• Players everyone hates to face
• Players everyone loves to face
• How to make it as a pro?
• How much money do players earn?
• Greatest darts rivalries
• Rivalries to cherish
• Be canny with counting
• Phil Taylor's greatest display
• World Cup of Great Darts performances
• Sky Bet's darts odds